Rudder control for a sail boat

ABSTRACT

A rudder control for a sail boat which has a main rudder and an auxiliary rudder with means to selectively operate the rudders separately or in unison which includes the use of a locking member.

United States Patent Henry R. Hinckley Southwest Harbor, Maine 836,808

June 26, 1969 May 25, 1971 Henry R. Hinckley & Company Southwest Harbor, Maine lnventor Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee RUDDER CONTROL FOR A SAIL BOAT 10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 114/163 Int. Cl B63h 25/06 Field oiSearch 114/163, 164, 154; 74/480 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,579,959 12/ 1951 Petersen 74/480 2,972,324 2/1961 Wi11iams.... 114/163 3,294,054 12/1966 Norton 74/480 Primary Examiner-Andrew H. Farrell Attorney-Dike, Thompson & Bronstein ABSTRACT: A rudder control for a sail boat which has a main rudder and an auxiliary rudder with means to selectively operate the rudders separately or in unison which includes the use of a locking member.

Patented May 25, 1971 3,580,208

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4s FIG.I e2

FIG. 2

INVENTOR HENRY R. HINCKLEY ATTORNE YS VI E m T 8 NC m EN VI m 4 R 3 Y m R N F E H Patented May 25, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS RUDDER CONTROL FOR A SAIL BOAT In the preferred embodiment the locking member is a disclike member connected in coaxial relationship with the auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft and it is provided with an arcuate slot. In this embodiment the lock actuating means is a boltlike member which has a knurled head and a shaft portion extending through a passage in the main rudder-actuating means and the arcuate slot and also has a threaded shaft portion located in an interiorly threaded passage of the locking element so that by rotation of the knurled head a face of the locking element is drawn into frictional engagement with the adjacent face of the locking member to releasably lock them together.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Some sail boats are provided with two rudders, a main rudder located aft of the boat and an auxiliary rudder sometimes called a trim" or tab rudder located near the center of the boat.

It is desirable that means be provided so that the main and auxiliary rudders may be rotated independently of each other about their respective axes of rotation and also so that they may be rotated in unison about their respective axes.

In one prior art rudder control three concentric wheels of progressively greater diameter are provided for use by the helmsman. Rotation of the larger wheel controls rotation of the main rudder, rotation of the intermediate wheel controls rotation of the auxiliary rudder and rotation of the small wheel actuates a clutch which connects the main rudder and auxiliary rudder wheels so that by rotation of either the larger wheel or the intermediate wheel the main and auxiliary rudders are rotated in unison about their respective axes.

While this prior art rudder control has met with acceptance it is very expensive due to the high cost of the clutch and of the three wheels.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One object of the invention is to provide a rudder control for a sail boat of the type which has a main rudder and an auxiliary rudder which can be manufactured and installed more economically than the aforesaid prior art construction.

Another object is to provide such a rudder control which requires the provision of only one wheel.

Yet a further object is to provide reliable, simple and economical means for releasably locking the main rudder-actuating shaft and the auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft together for operation of the rudders in unison.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from consideration of the accompanying drawings and the following description.

In general this invention comprises the use of a main rudder, a main rudder-actuating shaft, a wheel or other means connected to said shaft for actuating it, means operatively connecting the main rudder and the main rudder-actuating shaft, an auxiliary rudder, an auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft coaxial with the main rudder-actuating shaft, a handle, tiller or other auxiliary rudder-actuating means connected to the auxiliary rudder shaft for actuating it, and means operably connecting the auxiliary rudder and the auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft. To permit operation of the main rudder-actuating shaft and the auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft in unison by actuation of one of the main rudder-actuating means and the auxiliary rudder-actuating means I provide a disclike locking member which is connected with one of the main rudder-actuating shaft and the auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft in coaxial relationship therewith. This disclike member is provided with an arcuate slot. I also provide a locking element which is associated with the disclike member and a lock-actuating means which passes through the slot in the disclike member and is operatively associated with the locking element and with one of the main rudder and the auxiliary rudder-actuating means for releasably moving the locking element into locking engagement with the disclike locking member.

In the preferred embodiment the lock-actuating means is a boltlike member having a knurled head located above the axis of the wheel, having portions of its shaft extending through a passage in the main rudder-actuating means and thence through said slot and having a threaded end portion of its shaft located in an interiorly threaded passage of the locking element. The boltlike member also has an abutment portion which is engageable with a portion of the main rudder-actuating means. By rotating the knurled head of the lock-actuating means in one directiona face of the locking element is drawn into frictional engagement with an adjacent face of the dis clike locking member so that by turning the wheel the main and auxiliary rudders are moved in unison and by rotating the knurled head in the other direction only the main rudder-actuating shaft is moved by turning the wheel and the auxiliary actuating shaft may be moved independently by actuation of the handle, tiller or other auxiliary rudder-actuating means.

The rudder control of this invention is economical to manufacture because it embodies the use of only one wheel and the use of simple and economical locking means.

Furthermore, the elements of my rudder control are easy to assemble with the other elements of a sail boat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of part of a sail boat having a rudder control of this invention installed therein, parts of the boat being broken away and shown in section;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of FIG. 1 with parts broken away to show the way the cables run to the quadrants of the main and auxiliary rudders;

FIG. 3 is a perspective showing the cockpit, the wheel for' DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 4, the main rudder-actuating shaft 10 is mounted for rotation in the bearing 11 secured to the binnacle 12. The main rudder-actuating means consists of the wheel 13 which is keyed to the shaft 10.

The main rudder sprocket 14 is keyed to the shaft 10 and the chain 15 passes about this sprocket.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, one end of the cable 16 is attached to one end of the chain and it passes about a first pulley 17, a second pulley 18 and a groove in the end of the main rudder quadrant 19 and has its end attached to the quadrant at 20. One end of the cable 21 is attached to the other end'of the chain 15, it passes about a third pulley (not shown) similar to the pulley 17, a fourth pulley 22, another groove in the end of the main rudder quadrant and has its end attached to the opposite side of the quadrant at 23.

The main rudder rod 24 is secured to the quadrant l9 and to the main rudder 25.

Thus, rotation of the wheel 13 causes rotation of the main rudder by means of the shaft 10, sprocket 14, chain 15, cables 16 and 21, quadrant 19 and rod 24.

Referring to FIG. 4, the auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft 30 is mounted for rotation in the bearing 31 secured to the binnacle 12. The auxiliary rudder-actuating means consists of the handle or tiller 32 having a collar 33 keyed to the shaft 30 at 34. The shaft 30 is coaxial with the shaft 10 as shown in FIG. 5.

The auxiliary rudder sprocket 36 is keyed to the shaft 30 at 37 and the chain 38 passes about this sprocket.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 one end of the cable 39 is attached to one end of the chain 38 and it passes about a fifth pulley 40, a sixth pulley 41 and a groove in the end of the auxiliary rudder quadrant 42 and has its end attached to the quadrant 42 at 43. One end of the cable 44 is attached to the other end of the chain 38, it passes about a seventh pulley (not shown) similar to the pulley 40, an eighth pulley 46, another groove in the end of the auxiliary rudder quadrant and has its end attached to the opposite side of the quadrant at 47.

The auxiliary rudder rod 48 is secured to the quadrant 42 and to the auxiliary rudder 49.

Thus actuation of the tiller 32 causes rotation of the auxiliary rudder by means of collar 33, shaft 30, sprocket 36, chain 38, cables 39 and 44, quadrant 42 and rod 48.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the disclike locking member 50 is connected to the collar 33 by the screw 51 and consequently it is connected to the auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft 30 since the collar is keyed to that shaft at 34. An arcuate slot 52 is provided in the member 50.

The locking element 54 comprises a main portion 55, an arcuate flange 56 and an interiorly threaded passage 57.

The lock actuating means 60 comprises a bolt which has a knurled head 61, a shaft 62 which extends through a passage 63 in the collar 13A of the wheel 13 and through the slot 52 of the disclike member 50. The threaded end of the shaft is received in the interiorly threaded passage 57 of the locking element 55. Preferably the face of the disclike member 50 which comes into contact with the adjacent face of the locking element 54 when the latter is moved towards the former is roughened or scored to insure a tight locking engagement between them.

The bolt 62 also includes an enlarged portion 65 one end of which forms an abutment portion which engages the face of the collar 13A as shown in FIG. 4.

The element 70 is a brake for the auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft 30 and it is operated by a handle (not shown) so that it will grip the auxiliary rudder shaft and hold it in any desired position of rotation.

While in the embodiment shown in the drawings the disclike member 50 is secured to the auxiliary rudder shaft 30 and the lock-actuating bolt 62 extends through a passage in the collar 13A of the main rudder-actuating means they may be reversed so that the disclike member is secured to the main rudder shaft and the lock actuating bolt extends through a passage in the collar of the auxiliary actuating means, in which event the diameter of the collar 33 would be increased so it would be greater than the diameter of the collar 13A.

OPERATION With the brake 70 out of gripping engagement with the shaft 30 and the face of the locking element 54 out of locking engagement with the adjacent face of the disclike locking member 50 the auxiliary rudder may be rotated independently of the main rudder by actuation of the tiller 32. By tightening the brake 70 the auxiliary rudder is held in any desired position.

With the face of the locking element 54 out of locking engagement with. the adjacent face of the disclike locking member 50 the main rudder may be rotated independently of the auxiliary rudder by actuation of the wheel 13. During such actuation of the wheel, shaft 62 of the bolt slides in the arcuate groove 52 and arcuate flange 56 slides along the periphery of the disclike locking member 50.

To' cause the two rudders to be rotated in unison the helmsman rotates the knurled head of the bolt 60 causing its threaded end to move the locking element 54 towards the disclike member 50 until their adjacent faces are in tight frictional engagement. This causes the main rudder-actuating shaft 10 and the auxiliary rudder-operating shaft to be moved in unison upon actuation of either the wheel 13 or the tiller 32.

It is therefore apparent that a rudder control embodying this invention can be manufactured and installed more economically than the prior art rudder control and that the means for releasably locking the main rudder and auxiliary rudder-actuating shafts together is simple, reliable in use and economical to manufacture and install.

While one desirable embodiment of the invention has been shown in the drawings, it is to be understood that this disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that various changes in shape, proportion and arrangement of parts as well as the substitution of equivalent elements for those herein shown and described, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

I. In a rudder control for a sail boat, comprising a main rudder, a main rudder-actuating shaft, main rudder-actuating means connected to said shaft, means operatively connecting said main rudder and said main rudder-actuating shaft, an auxiliary rudder, an auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft coaxial with said main rudder-actuating shaft, auxiliary rudder-actuating means connected to said auxiliary rudder shaft, and means operably connecting said auxiliary rudder and said auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft, the improvement comprising a disclike locking member connected with one of said main rudder-actuating shaft and said auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft in coaxial relationship therewith, an arcuate slot in said locking member, a locking element, and lock-actuating means passing through said slot and operatively associated with said locking element and one of said main rudder-actuating means and said auxiliary rudder-actuating means for releasably moving said locking element into locking engagement with said disclike locking member,

whereby said main rudder actuating shaft and said auxiliary rudder actuating shaft may be operated in unison by actuation of one of said main rudder-actuating means and said auxiliary rudder-actuating means when said locking element is in locking engagement with said disclike locking member and may be operated independently of each other when said locking element is out of locking engagement with said disclike locking member.

2. A rudder control according to claim 1 wherein said lockactuating means comprises a boltlike member with portions of its shaft located in said slot and in a passage which extends through one of the main rudder-actuating means and the auxiliary rudder-actuating means, said boltlike member having a threaded portion of its shaft located in an interiorly threaded passage of said locking element.

3. A rudder control according to claim 2 wherein the shaft of said boltlike member also comprises an abutment portion spaced from said threaded portion and engageable with a portion of one of said main rudder-actuating means and said auxiliary rudder-actuating means.

4. A rudder control according to claim 1 wherein said locking element comprises a face which is drawn into frictional engagement with an adjacent face of said disclike locking member upon actuation of said lock-actuating means in one direction.

5. A rudder control according to claim 1 wherein said locking element comprises an arcuate flange for slideably engaging the periphery of said disclike locking member when said main rudder-actuating shaft and said auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft are operated independently of each other.

6. In a rudder control for a sail boat comprising a main rudder, a main rudder-actuating shaft, main rudder-actuating means connected to said shaft, means operatively connecting said main rudder and said main rudder-actuating shaft, an auxiliary rudder, an auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft coaxial with said main rudder-actuating shaft, auxiliary rudder-actuating means connected to said auxiliary rudder shaft, and means operably connecting the auxiliary rudder and said auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft, the improvement comprising a disclike locking member connected with said auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft in coaxial relationship therewith, an arcuate slot in said locking member,

a locking element, and

lock-actuating means passing through said slot and operatively associated with said locking element and said main rudderactuating means for releasably moving said locking element into locking engagement with said disc,

whereby said main rudder-actuating shaft and said auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft may be operated in unison by actuation of said main rudder-actuating means when said locking element is in locking engagement with said disclike locking member and may be operated independently of each other when said locking element is out of locking engagement with said disclike locking member.

7. A rudder control according to claim 6 wherein said lockactuating means comprises a boltlike member with portions of its shaft located in said slot and in a passage which extends through the main rudder-actuating means, said boltlike member having a threaded portion of its shaft located in an interiorly threaded passage of said locking element.

8. A rudder control according to claim 7 wherein the shaft of said boltlike member also comprises an abutment portion spaced from said threaded portion and engageable with a portion of said main rudder-actuating means.

9. A rudder control according to claim 6 wherein said locking element comprises a face which is drawn into frictional engagement with an adjacent face of said disclike locking member upon actuation of said lock-actuating means in one direction.

10. A rudder control according to claim 6 wherein said locking element comprises an arcuate flange for slideably engaging the periphery of said disclike locking member when said main rudder-actuating shaft and said auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft are operated independently of each other. 

1. In a rudder control for a sail boat, comprising a main rudder, a main rudder-actuating shaft, main rudder-actuating means connected to said shaft, means operatively connecting said main rudder and said main rudder-actuating shaft, an auxiliary rudder, an auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft coaxial with said main rudder-actuating shaft, auxiliary rudder-actuating means connected to said auxiliary rudder shaft, and means operably connecting said auxiliary rudder and said auxiliary rudderactuating shaft, the improvement comprising a disclike locking member connected with one of said main rudder-actuating shaft and said auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft in coaxial relationship therewith, an arcuate slot in said locking member, a locking element, and lock-actuating means passing through said slot and operatively associated with said locking element and one of said main rudder-actuating means and said auxiliary rudder-actuating means for releasably moving said locking element into locking engagement with said disclike locking member, whereby said main rudder actuating shaft and said auxiliary rudder actuating shaft may be operated in unison by actuation of one of said main rudder-actuating means and said auxiliary rudder-actuating means when said locking element is in locking engagement with said disclike locking member and may be operated independently of each other when said locking element is out of locking engagement with said disclike locking member.
 2. A rudder control according to claim 1 wherein said lock-actuating means comprises a boltlike member with portions of its shaft located in said slot and in a passage which extends through one of the main rudder-actuating means and the auxiliary rudder-actuating means, said boltlike member having a threaded portion of its shaft located in an interiorly threaded passage of said locking element.
 3. A rudder control according to claim 2 wherein the shaft of said boltlike member also comprises an abutment portion spaced from said threaded portion and engageable with a portion of one of said main rudder-actuating means and said auxiliary rudder-actuating means.
 4. A rudder control according to claim 1 wherein said locking element comprises a face which is drawn into frictional engagement with an adjacent face of said disclike locking member upon actuation of said lock-actuating means in one direction.
 5. A rudder control according to claim 1 wherein said locking element comprises an arcuate flange for slideably engaging the periphery of said disclike locking member when said main rudder-actuating shaft and said auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft are operated independently of each other.
 6. In a rudder control for a sail boat comprising a main rudder, a main rudder-actuating shaft, main rudder-actuating means connected to said shaft, means operatively connecting said main rudder and said main rudder-actuating shaft, an auxiliary rudder, an auxiliAry rudder-actuating shaft coaxial with said main rudder-actuating shaft, auxiliary rudder-actuating means connected to said auxiliary rudder shaft, and means operably connecting the auxiliary rudder and said auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft, the improvement comprising a disclike locking member connected with said auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft in coaxial relationship therewith, an arcuate slot in said locking member, a locking element, and lock-actuating means passing through said slot and operatively associated with said locking element and said main rudder-actuating means for releasably moving said locking element into locking engagement with said disc, whereby said main rudder-actuating shaft and said auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft may be operated in unison by actuation of said main rudder-actuating means when said locking element is in locking engagement with said disclike locking member and may be operated independently of each other when said locking element is out of locking engagement with said disclike locking member.
 7. A rudder control according to claim 6 wherein said lock-actuating means comprises a boltlike member with portions of its shaft located in said slot and in a passage which extends through the main rudder-actuating means, said boltlike member having a threaded portion of its shaft located in an interiorly threaded passage of said locking element.
 8. A rudder control according to claim 7 wherein the shaft of said boltlike member also comprises an abutment portion spaced from said threaded portion and engageable with a portion of said main rudder-actuating means.
 9. A rudder control according to claim 6 wherein said locking element comprises a face which is drawn into frictional engagement with an adjacent face of said disclike locking member upon actuation of said lock-actuating means in one direction.
 10. A rudder control according to claim 6 wherein said locking element comprises an arcuate flange for slideably engaging the periphery of said disclike locking member when said main rudder-actuating shaft and said auxiliary rudder-actuating shaft are operated independently of each other. 